Projecting which NHL teams will send the most star prospects to the 2027 World Juniors

Jul 30, 2026, 14:14 EDT

Projecting which NHL teams will send the most star prospects to the 2027 World Juniors

Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images

We’ve just about reached the end of July, which clearly means it’s time to start thinking about a hockey tournament that begins on Boxing Day.

No, really. The World Junior Summer Showcase is in full swing in Windsor, Ontario, home of the OHL’s Spitfires, where players from Canada, Sweden, Finland, and the United States are vying to impress their respective national federations during head-to-head scrimmages.

The showcase provides an early opportunity for new hopefuls to make an impression (and for veterans to lock down their roster spots). Fail to do so, and the first half of the upcoming 2026-27 regular season takes on a whole new dimension.

All 32 NHL teams have at least one prospect taking part at this year’s showcase, but some are better represented than others. Nine teams have four or more draft picks at the showcase; the most representatives any one team has is eight.

Of course, not all prospects are created equal. The four teams listed below each have multiple draft picks who are slated to play starring roles for their respective national teams when the 2027 World Junior Championship kicks off in Edmonton and Red Deer.

Calgary Flames

Top candidates: Carson Carels (CAN), Cole Reschny (CAN), Ethan Wyttenbach (USA), Tobias Trejbal (CZE)

Yes, the Flames are the team with eight representatives in Windsor, and that doesn’t include Trejbal, as the Czechs aren’t taking part. Calgary’s other attendees are Canadian winger Chase Harrington; American forwards Cullen Potter and Jack Hextall, as well as defenseman Mace’o Phillips; and Swedish center Theo Stockselius. Over his three seasons to date as the Flames’ general manager, Craig Conroy has amassed a veritable stockpile of top-end talent, and this year’s World Juniors could represent its apex.

This is going to be one heck of a holiday season for Flames fans, who are virtually guaranteed to have some form of rooting interest throughout the medal rounds of the WJC. Carels and Reschny are both returnees from last year’s Canadian bronze medallists and are hungry for vengeance. Wyttenbach, the NCAA’s reigning scoring leader, is also playing with a chip on his shoulder after being snubbed from the 2026 iteration of Team USA; he’s been by far the best player at the showcase (just ask our very own Steven Ellis).

Reschny and Carels, the Flames’ top 2025 and 2026 draft picks, could both wear letters as cornerstone pieces for Team Canada. Wyttenbach will almost certainly feature on Team USA’s top line, potentially alongside Potter, another first-round pick who hasn’t seen any game action in Windsor as he continues to recover from shoulder surgery. Stockselius, meanwhile, could have a legitimate shot at being Sweden’s No. 1 center, especially if Viggo Björck doesn’t attend. Trejbal is basically a shoo-in to play for the Czechs as they aim to medal for a fifth consecutive year.

Put it this way: Calgary might end up sending as many as four top-line forwards, a top-pair defenseman, and a starting goaltender to this year’s World Juniors. With all the action taking place only a short drive away from YYC, expect to see both Rogers Place and the Red Deer Centrium jam-packed with rabid Flames fans watching their prospects playing on the international stage.

Nashville Predators

Top candidates: Brady Martin (CAN), Cameron Reid (CAN), Jack Ivankovic (CAN), Wyatt Cullen (USA)

While a certain amount of guesswork is required to project which players will make their respective national teams approximately five months from now, it’s pretty safe to expect that Martin, Reid, and Ivankovic will all return after helping Team Canada win bronze in 2026.

The undersized but highly athletic Ivankovic is slated to make his third consecutive World Juniors appearance this winter and could finally become Canada’s starter after backing up Kings prospect Carter George in 2025 and 2026. He’s coming off of an outstanding freshman year at Michigan, in which he went 25-8-1 with a .921 save percentage, and should have no problem fending off the likes of Lucas Beckman and Samuel Meloche for Canada’s No. 1 job.

It remains to be seen exactly where Martin will slot into Canada’s lineup after primarily riding shotgun with Gavin McKenna last year; the same goes for Reid, who spent much of the 2026 tournament on a pairing with Zayne Parekh. Either way, both should feature prominently. Meanwhile, Cullen should be one of Team USA’s go-to guys, and he’s even been playing center for them at the showcase (likely because Potter is unavailable, but still). Cullen was one of the biggest risers in the 2026 draft class after a terrific showing at the U18s, in which he scored three goals and nine points in just five games.

Nashville’s other showcase attendees include American defensemen Jacob Rombach and Tommy Bleyl, both of whom are expected to be in the running for top-four spots in December. Additionally, defense prospect Alex Huang will have a shot at locking down a depth role on Canada’s blue line. All in all, it’s going to be a very Nashville-heavy tournament.

Seattle Kraken

Top candidates: Jake O’Brien (CAN), Chase Reid (USA), Casey Mutryn (USA), Blake Fiddler (USA)

The NHL’s most average team is nonetheless expected to send a large contingent of prospects to this year’s World Juniors. O’Brien and Reid are the biggest names in Seattle’s prospect pool and will likely also play starring roles for their national teams this December.

Reid projects to be Team USA’s No. 1 defender in Edmonton and Red Deer after playing second fiddle to Cole Hutson at last year’s tournament. It was a bit of a stunner to see the talented right-hander fall to the Kraken with the No. 7 pick in June, and he could end up becoming the franchise’s first truly transcendent defense prospect since its inception in 2021. Reid is the first defenseman the Kraken have ever selected with a first-round pick, and he’s got the size, skating, and skill required to do a little bit of everything for the Americans at his second WJC.

O’Brien was initially named to Canada’s roster for the showcase but was unable to attend due to lingering tendinitis in his knee, which he is currently receiving treatment for in Seattle. Barring any additional injury issues, O’Brien should be one of Team Canada’s headliners at the World Juniors after being one of the last cuts from last year’s team. He’s a right-shot center with good size and outstanding production, having just wrapped up his second consecutive 90-point OHL season.

Mutryn and Fiddler are Seattle’s two most recent second-round picks and could both play meaningful secondary roles for Team USA. But it’ll be Reid and O’Brien who capture the attention of most Kraken fans, and if they live up to the sky-high expectations that go hand-in-hand with being top-10 picks, it’ll go a long way toward elevating the NHL’s 32nd team to the plane of relevance.

Vancouver Canucks

Top candidates: Caleb Malhotra (CAN), Braeden Cootes (CAN), Adam Novotny (CZE), Niklas Aaram-Olsen (SWE)

Much like the Flames, the Canucks’ pool of potential World Junior standouts goes far deeper than just four players. It’ll be fascinating to watch a Team Canada led by this many players from the nation’s two westernmost NHL clubs, and it’ll be quite the battle to determine which names get the plum deployments at even strength and on the power play.

Like Reschny, Cootes is a returnee from last year’s Canadian squad, and while he didn’t feature quite as prominently at that tournament as his fellow 2025 first-rounder, it was the Canucks prospect who wore the captain’s “C” and skated on the top line during Wednesday’s tune-up game against Sweden (Reschny didn’t dress). Cootes played an integral role in the Prince Albert Raiders making it to the WHL Final this past year and could have a shot at making the Canucks on a full-time basis in 2026-27 after skating in his first three NHL games last season; either way, he’ll likely be loaned out to the WJC.

Beyond Cootes and Reschny, as well as O’Brien, Martin, and Utah Mammoth prospect Caleb Desnoyers, Canada’s top-six forward group wouldn’t be complete without Malhotra, who just went to Vancouver with the No. 3 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. Malhotra and O’Brien played together with the OHL’s Brantford Bulldogs last season and will likely rekindle their partnership once again at the World Juniors. Malhotra’s draft stock skyrocketed in the OHL playoffs as he racked up 13 goals and 26 points in 15 games; that kind of past performance under the biggest spotlight will get Malhotra onto the ice for Canada at the biggest moments.

Having only just traded Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild last season, the Canucks are in a difficult spot, and their fanbase has been feeling the pain for months (if not years). With upwards of a half-dozen national team hopefuls in their pipeline — Novotny and Aaram-Olsen are shoo-ins, and keep an eye on Brooks Rogowski in a depth role for Team USA, too — the Canucks might be able to use the 2027 WJC as a rallying point. They still have lots of work to do, but the brightest parts of their future will be on display in Alberta over the holidays.

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POST SPONSORED BY bet365

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